Apparatus for extracting volatiles from coals, shales, lignites, and similar materials and for refining the same.



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Patented July 18, 1916.

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C. C. BUSSEY.

ArrLlcM 0N flLEu MAY 12, 1914.

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uvennenu .IIIQ VIII MMERIALS ALD FOR REFlNiNG THE SAMEi APPARATUS FOREXTRACTING VOLAT'LES FROM COALS. SHALES, LIGNITE, AND SIMILAR.

W/T/VESSES C. C. BUSSEY. APPARATUS FOR EXTRACTING voLATlLEs FROM CoALs.SHALES, LIGNITE, AND SIMILAR MATERIALS AND FOR REFINlNG THE SAME.

AI'YLICATION FILED MAY l2, 1914. i 1 ,1 91 ,870. Patented July 18, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

' arated y y UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES C. BUSSEY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOB TO COAL BY-PRODUCTSCOMPANY.

APPARATUS FOB EXTBACTING VOLATILES FROM COALS, SHALES, LIGNITES, ANDYSIMILAR MATERIALS AND FOR REFINING THE SAME. i

Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented July 18, 1916.

Application tiled )tay 12, 1914. Serial No. 838,174.

a citizen of the United States, residing at Y the borough of Brooklyn,in the county of Kings, city and State of New York, have invented anImproved Apparatus for Extracting Volatiles from loals, Shales Lignites,and Similar Materlals and foi` efining,the Same, of which the followlng1s a specification.

This invention relates to an improved apparatus for extracting volatilematters from bituminous coals shales, lignites and other similar materias containing hydro-carbonaceous ingredients, and in carrying out thesame I first generate producer gas and then pass the same, at less thana pre-determined temperature, and preferably upwardly, through asuperimposed pile or body of the material from which the volatilematters are to be extracted, in order to utilize the initial heat of theproducer gas to extract the volatile matters from the materials treated,so that these volatile matters, together with the producer gas, arecarried awa from the vessel in which the gas is pre erably generated andthe volatiles extracted, after which the producer gas 1s sepfrom thevolatile matters and conveyed to a suitable tank or holder forutilization, and the volatile matters conveyed to a suitable depository,and, if desired, refined to any required degree.

yIn carrying out my improved method, I prefer to employ a retort, shaft,or cupola in which the materials to be treated are placed, and in whichthe producer gas is generated, and during the extraction of the volatilematters from the materials treated, these materials are preferably movedcontinuously and progressively through the retort, being fed into thesame at the top and removed at the bottom, as coke or other residue. Thetemperature of the gas is so maintained within the retort as to extractthe desired amount of volatiles from the materials without producing anychemical change in said materials while the volatiles are beingextracted therefrom, and in order to so maintain the temperature thecoke or other residue is regularl and uniformly removed at the bottom othe retort causing the 'materials to pass progressively therethrough ina downward direction. Furthermore, in order to effect a free and uniformexpansion of the materials throughout the retort and also in 4order thatthe producer gas may be evenly distributed, I

prefer to carry out my improved method unf coals, shales and likematerlals as herein set forth, is made the subject to the separateapplication filed on the same date herewith under Serial No. 838,173.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is a diagrammatic sectional elevationillustrating an apparatus by which my improved process is carried out,and Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic plan of the same.

Referring to the drawing, the a paratus which I prefer to employ preferalyA comprises a retort 10 built upon a suitable base 11, both of whichmay be made of any material and of the required dimensions. The innerwalls l2 of the retort 10 are preferably inclined or tapering from thetop, or a point adjacent the top, downwardly, in order to provide notonly for the ready distribution of the materials to be treated but alsoto per- ,mit of their proper expansion while under treatment.

In any suitable position in the base 11 of the retort, I provide afire-place, indicated at 13. This is fitted with suitable grate bars 14,beneath whichfthere is a space, providing an ash pit 15. The fire-placeis fitted with a suitable door 16 and the ash pit with a door 17. Thefire-place 13 communicates with a circumferentlal flue 18, extending anydesired distance around, within the base 11, and this flue 18 has branchfines 19, making communication between the same and the interior of theretort at the lower end thereof. In the mouth of each of the iiues 19, Irefer to place a screen 20, and within each ue 19 there is a damper 21.

Within the base at the bottom of the retort, there is a space in whichshafts 22 and 23 are suitably mounted. Upon the shaft 22 there aresprocket wheels 24, and on the shaft 23 there are sprocket wheels 25.Passing over these sprocket wheels is a movin grate 26. which, as willbe understood, 1s sufficiently wide to extend entirely acro the openingat the lower end of the retort.

.is will bc observed from the drawing, the sha1-'t :3 is .lppreciablylower than the shaft 2l, so that the moving grate is placed at aninclination from the shaft 22 to the shaft 23. The moving grate ispreferably thus inclined in order to insure the proper removal of thecoke, ash or other residue from the material being treated within theretort, as will be hereinafter more fully explained. At the left-handend of the grate, as shown in Fig. 1, the same passes immediately over apassage-way 27, at the bottom of which there is a door 28 fitted with anarm 29 and a counter-weight 30 suitably connected thereto in order tonormally hold the door in its closed position, as shown in the drawing.At the bottom of the passage-way 27, and beneath the door 28, is a cokeor ash pit 31. At the bottom of the ash pit there is indoor 32, which isalso provided with an arm 33 and a counter-weight 34, in order tonormally maintain this door in a closed position, as is also shown inthe drawing.

The base of the retort preferab y rests upon a suitable foundation, andthe walls ot' the retort proper pass through a floor 35, so that aportion of the apparatus is below the floor and a portion thereof abovethe floor. At its upper end, the retort 10 is provided with a hopper 36at the top of which there is a door 37 hinged or otherwise connectedthereto, as indicated at 38. This door is normally maintained closed by\a bolt 39 provided with a thumb screw. At the bottom of the hopper andat the top of the retort, there is another door, indicated at 40. Thisdoor is suitably hinged to the hopper and is provided with an arm 41 anda counter-weight 42, in order to normally maintain it in a closedposition, in which position it may be secured by a lock bolt 43 orotherwise. At a point in the upper end of the retort, adjacent the topthereof, the same is provided with an opening adapted to receive one endof a discharge pipe 44, the opposite end of which is suitably connectedto the suction side of an exhauster 45. The discharge side of thisexhauster is.con nected by the pipe 46, preferably extending through thei'loor 35 and leading to the lower end of a separator 47. This separatoralso preferably extends through the floor 35 and 1s supported thereonbymeans of brackets 48 or otherwise. For a. purpose to be hereinafterexplained, this separator 47 may be provided with a gas burner 49, orother Suitable means for heating the contents ofthe separator. The lowerend of the separator u 47 is connected to an auxiliary retort or still52, by means of a pipe 50, in which there is a trap or U-bend A51'; Theauxiliary retort 52 is provided with a re door 53, and interiorly withsuitable means for heating the contents of the retort, the door 53 beingemployed to provide access to the means for heating this member of theapparatus.

A pipe 54 is suitably secured at one end in the upper portion of theseparator 47. This pipe 54 1s passed through a suitable condenser 55,preferably comprising a tank in which water is constantly circulated,and after passing through the condenser is connected to a T 56. The pipe57 is secured at one end to the T 56 and at the other to an oil orresidue tank 58. The pi e 59 connects the opposite side of the il' 56with an auxiliary separator 60, the upper portion of which is connectedto a gas tank 62 by a pipe 61. The auxiliary retort or still 52 isconnected to the lower portion of an auxillary separator 64 by means ofa pipe 63, and the pipe 65 extends from the upper end of the auxiliaryseparator 64 to an auxiliary separator 66. The pipe 67 leads from thelower end of the auxiliary separator 64 through the condenser 55, andterminates in an oil tank 68, and similarly a pipe 69 extends from thelower end of the auxiliary separator 66 through the condenser 55 andterminates in an oil tank 70. The upper end of the auxiliary separator66 may be connected to a tank or other receptacle 75, and this series ofauxiliary separators and tanks continued indefinitely, depending uponthe degree to which it is desired to refine the product. The lower endof the auxiliary separator 60 is connected by a pipe 72 with a tank 73.

In the use of the hereinbefore described apparatus, the bituminouscoals, shales, lignites or other similar materials havinghydro-carbonaceous ingredients, and from which it is desired to extractthe volatile matters, are placed in the retort 10, completely fillingthe chamber therein, after provision has been made for suitably heatinthe same.

n the use of bituminous coal, the -res may be started immediately uponthe moving grate 26, access being had thereto for this purpose through asuitable fire door 74, the bituminous material being suliicientlycombustible to provide the necessary producer gas for extracting thevolatile matters from the material in the upper portion of the retort,as it passes through the same. It will be understood that the materialmay be placed within and the residue removed from the retort withoutopening the interior thereof to the atmosphere, the material beingadmitted through the hopper 36 by operating the upper and then the lowerdoor, and the coke, ash or other residue being withdrawn or removed by atraveling grate 26, which progressively removes the coke, ash or otherresidue and permits the same to fall into the passageway 27, from which.it may be emptied into the pit 31 through the door 28 and removedthrough the door 32. It will be further understood that the movement ofthe grate is such as to so control the fires that the. temperature ofthe resultant producer gas will not exceed 'approximately 800 Fahr.,which has been determined by experiment as necessary in obtaining thebest results in the practise of my invention The traveling grate 26 isplaced at an inclination so as to provide adequate space between thesame and the lower wall of the` retort on the side at which the residueis removed.

In the use of shales, lignites and other similar materials, which arenot sufficiently combustible to produce the necessary gas forextract-ing the volatile matters from the material under treatment, itis necessary to provide some means for independently generating thenecessary gas to effect the extraction of these volatile matters. Itxisfor this purpose that I provide the base of the retort with thefire-place 13 and the fiues 18 and 19, so that in extracting volatilematters from these substances, anthracite coal orv other suitablematerial may be burned in this fire-place and the resultant producer gaspassed through the lues and into the retort, the dampers 21 or othersuitable fire-regulating means being operated to maintain thetemperature of the gas at approximately 800o Fahr., as hereinbeforestated.

In extracting the volatile matters from bituminous coal, the coke orother residue is progressively removed at the bottom of the retort andthe fire in thematerial-restricted to that portion thereof in the bottomof the retort, so that the producer gas generated passes up through thecoal above the fire and is uniformly distributed therethrough and isthus employed to extract volatile matters therein. These volatilematters, mixed with the producer gas, are then withdrawn from the retortby the exhauster 45, passing through the pipes 44 and 46 into theseparator 47, where, as will be understood, the gases and perhaps asmall percentage of the lighter volatile matters will rise to the top ofthe separator and pass through the pipe 54 through the condenser 55,'during which passage the lighter volatile matters are condensed and paedto the tank 58 by way of the pipe 57, the gases passing by way of thepipe 59 to the auxiliary separator 60 and thence to the gas tank 62, byway of the pipe 61. If, for any reason, all of the lighter volatilematters should not be condensed in the pipe 54, as the same passesthrough the condenser, these uncondensed volatile matters will settle inthe bottom of the auxiliary separator 60, and

passby way of the pipe 72 to the tank 73. The heavier volatile matters,as it will be understood, settle in the bottom of the separator 47, andare trapped into the auxiliary retort or still 52 by the pipe 50. Thegas burner 49, or other similar heatin apparatus, may be utilized, as itwill be understood, if, for any reason, the temperature of the mixtureof volatile matters and producer as is reduced below a certain pointbefore eing admitted to the Separator 47.

After the heavier volatile matters have reached the auxiliary retort orstill 52, they may be heated therein by any suitable heating apparatus,so that the vapors pass from the retort or still through the pipe 63into the auxiliary separator 64, where the lighter portion of thesevapors, as will be understood, passes through the pipe 65 into theauxiliary separator 66. The heavier portions of these vapors fall to thebottom of the auxiliary separator 64 and pass, by way of the pipe 6 7,through the condenser 55 to the tank 68. Similarly, the lighter vapors,after the same have reached the auxiliary separator 66, rise to the topthereof and pass by way of the pipe 71, to a suitable receptacle, andthe heavier portions of the vapor in the auxiliary separator 66 pass byway of the pipe 69 through the condenser 55 and the tank 70, it beingunderstood that while I have shown a series of two auxiliary separators,namely 64 and 66,for the refining of the heavier volatiles, any numberof the same may be employed or similarly connected in order that theproducts maybe refined to any desired degree. It will be furthermoreunderstood that the process of refining the products is precisely thesame in the treatment of shales, lignites and other materials, as thathereinbefore described in connection with the treatment of bituminouscoals.

I claim as my invention:

1. An apparatus for extracting volatile matters from materials havinghydrocarbonaceous ingredients comprisin a retort of suficient length toprovide a re atively deep bed of material, means at the top of theretort for admitting material to be treated therein, and an endlessconveyer placed at an angle to the horizontal beneath theretort tocontinuously withdraw laterally at all points froml the bottom of theretort, an equal amount of the residue from the material undertreatment.

2. An apparatus for extracting volatile matters from materials havinghydrocarbonaceous ingredients comprising a conical retort of suicientlength to provide a relatively deep bed of material, means for admittingmaterial to be treated at the top of the retort, an endless conveyerplaced at an angle to' the horizontal beneath the bottom of the retortso as to continuously withdraw at all points across the bottom of theretort an equal amount of the residue from the material under treatment,and means for Withdrawing the mixed gases and volatiles from the retortat the upper end thereof.

3. An apparatus for extracting volatile matters from materials havinghydrocarbonaceous ingredients comprising a conical re- 'tort ofsufiicient length to provide a relatively deep bed of material a hopperat the top of the retort through which the material to be treatedtherein is admitted, an endless conveyer placed at an angle to thehorizontal beneath'the bottom of the retort so as to continuouslywithdraw at all points across the bottom of the retort an equal amountof the residue from the material under treatment, and means forWithdrawing the mixed gases and volatiles from the retort at the upperend thereof. A v

4. An apparatus for extracting volatile matters from materials havinghydrocarbonaceous ingredients, comprislng a base, a. conical retortmounted thereon and of suii cient length to provide a relatively deepbed of material, fireplaces in spaced positions in the said base inwhich there is a circumferential flue and fiues leading therefrom to thesaid retort, a hopper at the top of the retort for admitting thematerial to be treated therein, and an endless conveyer inclined to thehorizontal and extending beneath the bottom of the retort so as toWithdraw at all points across the bottom of the retort an equal amountof the residue from the material under treatment in the retort, andmeans for withdrawing the mixed gases and volatiles from the up er endof the retort.

5. An apparatus or extracting volatile matters from material havinghydrocarbonaceous ingredients, comprising a base, a conical retortmounted thereon and of suicient lengh to .provide a relatively deep bedof material, fireplaces in s aced positions in the said base in which tere is a circumferential flue and flues leading therefrom to the saidretort, dampers in said iues, a hopper at thetop of the retort foradmitting the material to be treated therein, and an endless conveyer soinclined to the horizontal and extending beneath the bottom of theretort as to withdraw at all points across the bottom of the retort anequal amount of the residue from the material under treatment in theretort means for withdrawing the mixed gases and volatiles from theupper end of the retort, and'devices for separating the said gases andvolatiles after the. same have been withdrawn from the upper i end ofthe retort.

Signed by me this 6th day of May, 1914.

CHARLES C. BUSSEY. l

Witnesses:

BERTHA M. ALLEN, J. B. LEBLANC.

